Huw Lewis, Minister for Education and Skills
This was published under the 2011 to 2016 administration of the Welsh Government
The Education (Wales) Bill 2013 has been laid today, 1 July 2013.
The Bill will introduce a new registration system that will bring greater coherence and recognition of the valuable contribution the wider education workforce make to the education of all learners in Wales.
The Bill will reform the process for registration and approval of independent schools in respect of learners with special educational needs (SEN). It will provide for better transition for SEN learners from school into further education by placing responsibility for assessing the needs of, and securing specialist post-16 education with the local authority.
The Bill will also provide for better consistency in school term dates by changing the way they are set so that they may be harmonised across all maintained schools in Wales.
The Bill will seek to legislate in the following areas:
- Education Workforce Council - Registration of the wider education workforce;
- Reform of the registration and approval of independent schools in respect of special education needs;
- Assessment of post-16 educational and training needs and specialist Further Education (FE);
- School term dates;
- The appointment and removal from office of HM Chief Inspector and the appointment of HM Inspectors of education and training in Wales under section 19 of the Education Act 2005.